WE CAN Get Together

13th Avenue, West University neighborhood, Eugene (Photo by Visitor 7 via Wikipedia; file licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

The members of WE CAN invite everyone to join them at 16 Tons Café (2864 Willamette Street, next to Market of Choice) on Thursday, March 24 between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm for the first WE CAN walkability get-together! 

 

I’m not familiar yet with WE CAN and all the folks behind the group. I do know WE CAN (the Walkable Eugene Citizens Advisory Network) is a group of citizens who wish to create a path toward successful, diverse, and community-supported, walkable 20-minute neighborhood districts in Eugene. 

 

Kevin Shanley of WE CAN brought the upcoming get together to the attention of CoLA (AIA-Southwestern Oregon’s Committee on Local Affairs, of which I am a member). A noted landscape architect and newcomer to Eugene, Kevin initially approached AIA-SWO seeking help identifying good local examples of higher density development (both residential and commercial/mixed-use) WE CAN could use to help make the case that, done right, such developments can be neighborly and desirable. 

 

WE CAN supports:

• Citizen involvement in planning processes that includes the full diversity of interests and opinions about how our community should evolve, and strives to find a balance between different points of view.
• The creation and expansion of walkable, 20-minute neighborhoods in Eugene, to allow Eugene residents more ability to choose healthy, sustainable transportation methods.
• Increased diversity in housing styles, including support for housing types such as accessory dwellings, townhouses, cottage clusters, and multi-family housing types, in order to provide Eugeneans with more options to live in a home that matches their lifestyle and budget.
• Planning for growth along key transit corridors and downtown, to help Eugene accommodate our future neighbors while preserving what is great about our city.
• Codes and standards that ensure that new development is of a high quality and enriches our city.
• Proposals that allow for future development in Eugene to increase citizens' choices in housing and transportation.

I’ve got two reasons to go: 1) I want to learn more about WE CAN and its mission and 2) I’ve yet to visit 16 Tons Café even though I only live a stone’s throw away. So, I know where I’ll be this coming Thursday evening: I’ll be enjoying a tasty beverage with others interested in more options for housing and transportation, and discussing actions we can take to help improve walkability in Eugene. Be there too and learn more about WE CAN with me.

 

What: WE CAN Get Together 

 

When: Thursday, March 24 – 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM 

 

Where: 16 Tons Café, 2864 Willamette Street (next to Market of Choice) 

 

Cost: FREE